I got to visit Ruth this past weekend with Jasser and we got to see little Dyland :) It was so special!! He is the sweetest little boy and he's beginning to walk which is oh so exciting! I love him. It's so nice that Granada is not too far away, and even though it isn't too far away, I still don't get over there enough. The thing is about Granada is that I absolutely love going there for a ton of reasons, but I always end up spending way too much money on all the amazing food there, which is dangerous... This last time I stayed with Ruth at her house so we ate there and I wasn't doing the whole "touristy" thing. I desperately wanted to slip over to the main street and soak up some American-ness, but I was enjoying time with my little nephew too much :)

Ruth & Jasser tricked me into eating something the other night that I definitely wouldn't have eaten had I known what it was. It didn't taste terrible, just different. They were looking at me with smirks on their faces after telling me "oh it's just mixed meat and rice that's been charred over the fire". Hmmm, well I ran over to Ruth's sister-in-law's house next door to ask her and she revealed the ingredients: sausage made from pig's blood that's boiled in the intestines. I felt like I was going to throw up after that and I lost a little trust in my "siblings" ;) I ate a little more after that, but couldn't do much more. It's funny how your mind can trick you too. Well, there's my weird Nica food story...glad that's over with :)

I've had a general dislike of birds ever since sophomore year of college when a bird decided to come in through our stove vent and take up residence in our rented house. She then built a nest, and her babies hatched, scratched, and chirped inside our walls. This was annoying in itself, and then some fell down the stove vent over our stove and pooped on our stove. How to get a whole family of birds out of your overhead stove vent? Well, a couple fell out after we detached the fan (yes, they had fallen down the vent onto the fan blades right above our stove), and well the others, they had built their next about 10 feet in from the external vent, just far enough not to be able to reach it with a broom or something like that. To make a long story short, our landlord's son came and had to hose them out. Not quite the happy ending, but we couldn't have birds living in our vents and pooping on our stove...

Anyway, why am I talking about birds and bringing back such horrific memories from the past?? Well, I'm visiting Frank because he's sick and I decided to wash his clothes since there was a rather large pile of dirty clothes (as there usually is...). Yesterday, Frank came home and met me in the back where I was washing and I handed him jeans to hang up and as he reached for them, a bird pooped on him. It was pretty funny, but then he didn't help me hang up the wet clothes :( Well later today I returned to find that the bird (or another one) had pooped in the lavandero (washboard area). That's annoying. I cleaned it out and then washed one of Frank's towels. He was talking to me and I was just about done washing the towel and the bird pooped on my arm and part of the towel. Frank was about to laugh at me, but then hit his head on the tin roof, which was hilarious. But then I had to re-wash part of the towel and my arm. Dang birds!

Needless to say, I still dislike birds.

Prayer means different things for different people. Prayers can be spoken or written, drawn or painter, sang or thought. It's an expression of gratitude and humility. It's beautiful and unique.

This morning I went to the private school where the Embassy scholarship class takes place. I walked in as the teacher was speaking to the students about how he wants them to grow this year and improve in their English skills. He wanted to begin this new semester with a prayer. He asked the students if any of them wanted to say a prayer. (Nicas are very open about religious). A students said my name, which caught me off guard. Since I had walked in while they were talking about it, I didn't quite catch what I had been volunteered to do, so the teacher told me. Even though I might have been volunteered because the students didn't want to (I think they wanted to hear me say something), I felt honored to pray for the students and their class for the year.

I'm excited for this group of students. They're special to me. I've enjoyed working with them and I'm looking forward to working with them this year. When I was in the States over vacation, I bought some postcards from Washington DC for them because I had taught them about Washington DC in a culture lesson. I gave them the postcards today and told them to look up the places online if they didn't recognize any of the buildings. They were very thankful for them.

I'm feeling a little more optimistic about this school year. Prayer does help :) (not that I didn't know that before...)

Nica fruits are something else. There's such an interesting variety. Today my choice of fruit is more traditional than strange, but different nonetheless: apple bananas. These are small bananas that taste like bananas with a hint of apple. They're delicious and the perfect size for a snack. I also bought some mandarin oranges today which are in season now & they're huge!

As I got distracted by my computer, as I usually do, I started smelling something delicious from the kitchen and then realized it was my Pop-tarts that I put in before I got online and knew I would forget about, that must be burning... I jumped up, ran to the kitchen and it was a little brown, but not too charred. I unplugged the toaster and then used a knife to get them out so I wouldn't burn myself. Then as I moved them on the plate, my finger stuck to the sizzling icing and burned my finger! Ugh! That icing is HOT! Even though I ran my finger under cool water and put some burn relief gel on it, it still looks like a semi-blister is forming. Seriously, Pop-tarts, seriously?!

My morning wasn't all bad though. I went to the instituto (after waiting for the bus for an hour that never showed up and standing amongst a drunkard fight) for the first day of school for teachers. It was nice to see all the teachers I knew from last year and do the usual greetings. We started the meeting an hour after it was supposed to, no surprise there. I walked home after (nice exercise) and got some mail from friends (one from Peru). That was nice :) Then I started planning trips with Frank--can you tell I'm excited for school to start?? haha

Today is pretty dreary and I've been hanging out inside just trying to keep busy. I think I might take a nap though--this weather makes me so tired & I did get up early for that meeting this morning. Hey, the rest of my town is sleeping at this time of the day...

I'm back in Boaco again, but I really haven't been in Boaco much this month. My "summer vacation" went by pretty quickly as it was filled with camps and such. I have a feeling that the next 9 1/2 months that I have left here in Nicaragua will probably go by pretty quickly too, considering I will be busy with school, visiting the last few places I haven't seen, and planning for things back home.

February is just about here and that means a new school year for Nicaragua. Here we go again... I'm a little apprehensive about the new school year for a couple of reasons, but I'm trying to be optimistic. I just hope that I can figure out what would be best for me to do and try to accomplish something here. A whole new school year brings a whole lot of room for opportunities to improve :)

Today our counterpart teachers left and it's our last night for our Peace Corps retreat. I'm sad we have to leave this beautiful place, especially because the food here is AWESOME! We had some great meetings and sharing time. The new TEFL group came today and joined us as our counterparts left for their homes. Tonight we had a fun barbeque dinner: hamburgers, hotdogs, campfire, and roasted marshmallows :) We also had a little "entertainment night" tonight. A couple of us who have been working at camps the past month or two wanted to continue on with the talent shows and show off some fun skits, so I had our trainer send out a text and then I made a few announcement to encourage people to participate. Some were skeptical, but it turned out to be a great night. We had skits, songs, guitar performances, a story, and other acts such as a contest to hold your breath the longest. It was pretty funny and special. I was glad that I was that annoying person pushing people to sign up and urging ones to come and watch. I'm pretty almost everyone was there watching and quite a few people participated. I announced at the end that this was the "First Annual TEFL Talent Show", emphasizing "annual" so that the new PCVs will hopefully continue with this to make it a tradition. It was a nice bonding time and just an evening to share a laugh and relax. Glad it happened :)

Yep, I got back on a bus today and headed out for my mid service training with Peace Corps. We're a little past mid-service, but our meeting is always in January. We are up north in a beautiful place called Selva Negra. It's kind of jungle-ish and very cold this time of year. We went on a short hike to check out the area and had a little session to make sure everyone knew everyone (counterpart teachers). Our dinner was big & delicious and now I'm indulging in a piece of chocolate cake that is way too big for one person, and sipping coffee much later than I should be putting caffeine into my body. Oh well :) Life is too short to not indulge once in a while...

Hey, if you're sitting there thinking of making me feel guilty, remember I'm a Peace Corps Volunteer living in third world country with no hot water and toilets that can't handle toilet paper. I deserve the cake ;)

Free to do what I want. That's how I felt tonight. I got to stay in Managua thanks to our boss who sympathized with us exhausted PCVs (especially Monica & me working at 2 camps in a row). I was wanting to get back home since I have to leave for meetings Monday, but I couldn't pass up this opportunity to just hang out and relax with my friends without any other obligations. It makes for a better transition from camp to "home".

We all just crashed when we got back to the hotel & I took a shower (not hot, but freezing, and it was a clean bathroom). Then we had some snacks & went out for drinks. We ended up getting appetizers for dinner and just hanging out at the restaurant and then going to another bar near the hotel. It was so fun talking, sharing funny moments from camp & other things, and just being free to do what we wanted and chill. I really missed Frank though. It was nice hanging out with my TEFL PCVs, but it would have been nice to have Frank there too--especially because two of the guys in our group were there & Frank likes to hang out with them too. Well, after our PC meetings this next week we might all hang out in Matagalpa so that will be fun.

Tonight was a blast. Super thankful for the "mental health break" :)

We finished up camp today which was such a relief! This camp was fun in its own way, but I liked the first camp a lot more. This was felt more like classes and not camp, but I still got to hang out with other PCVs which was cool. I felt bad because a lot of the kids were not having a super time, but were just excited to see their friends and spend time together. They didn't really like the idea of speaking English all the time together and it didn't help that we were sucking all the fun out of it by constantly reminding them to speak English haha Oh well.

We're done now so we don't have to worry about that anymore, but one thing really bummed me out. Someone took my camera case out of my bag so now I don't have a camera case. We made several announcements that it was missing and I even told the kids that if they had it they could leave it in one of the bathrooms, but nobody turned it in :( What was really weird about it was that I had my camera in its case, along with an extra memory card & a memory card reader, all in my teaching bag in my classroom. I was gone for about 20 minutes during break, and someone had gone in the room and taken my camera, card, and card reader out of the case, put them back in my teaching bag, but took the camera case. Not sure why they really wanted the case and didn't take the valuable items, but I guess I'm lucky in that sense. It's a bummer that those things happen, but I guess I gotta be more careful. It was just strange--my laptop was sitting there too.

I won't worry too much about it because it really wasn't that expensive & can be easily replaced. Monica needs a new camera case too so we're gonna go shopping together. Up in Matagalpa they have this place that sells purses, glasses & wallet folds from neat fabrics that some Nica women make so we might go there. We'll see! Anyway, we'll be going to our Peace Corps meeting Monday up north and I'm excited to see everyone and hang out. It should be fun. Hopefully it will be a little more relaxing than camp haha

The kids here are tired. They have so many classes throughout the day all in English and it's exhausting! Yesterday we played some large group games after lunch & it was awesome! The kids were into the games and laughing. It was so fun to see. Then, we loaded them onto two buses and we headed out to our surprise activity (movie theater). They were so excited. Most of them had never been to a movie theater--can you imagine never having gone to a movie theater until you were a junior or senior in high school? The only two places where you can go to a movie theater in Nicaragua are in Managua (the capital city) and Leon (a touristy/college town) and it's expensive. So, this was a neat trip to take the kids on. We all had a great time and watched "Johnny English" (Mr. Bean movie) in English with Spanish subtitles and ate some popcorn and treats :)

The kids did a great job staying in line, keeping quiet in the theater (we threatened to take away their phones if we saw any lights in there haha), and the bus ride went well too. I was impressed. Taking 100 kids to a movie theater sounded a little scary, but we did it.

So I did get more sleep last night, but these kids aren't behaving so great. More and more of them aren't following directions, being disrespectful, sneaking into rooms where they shouldn't be, etc. They are supposed to be using English at all times at camp (we can't control them in their dorms though), but a lot of them don't and even when we remind them they just say "yeah ok teacher". Super frustrating!! There are some great kids; don't get me wrong. However, a lot of them are lying about feeling sick and sneaking off. We tell them to go back to their rooms and they just stare at us, put their hand up (1 minute or wait), or keep walking. It's driving me crazy. It's a losing battle. There's only so much we can do and the kids are just not behaving as well as I would have expected for this camp. I know that they aren't having as much fun at this camp because it's a lot of work and heavy classes, but they knew what it was as it is called "English Intensive Camp". I get really frustrated when the kids don't listen or wait for you to turn around and then continue what they weren't supposed to be doing. I keep checking outside for wandering girls because I keep hearing doors opening and closing. "Lights out" was almost an hour ago... I still hear chatting, but it's time for me to get some sleep. I can't stay up all night waiting for someone to sneak out. They have to make their own mistakes and live with the consequences.

Tomorrow we are doing a fun, surprise activity for the kids: going to the movie theater in Managua. It will be the first time for a lot of kids to go to a movie theater so that will be neat. I hope that they will behave better!

Oh, thank the Lord, I got some sleep last night!! We finished the movie last night around 8:30pm that we had started the other night with the students and quickly moved them all toward their rooms. During our staff meeting we had to tell several of them to go back to their rooms, but they all got there eventually. My roommate (other PCV, Monica) and I got to bed before 10pm and didn't have much trouble keeping the girls in their rooms or keeping quiet. Yay!! We kept the fan on to cool down the room & cut out the outside noise and slept peacefully until 6:15am and even hit the snooze for an extra 5 minutes :) It was sooooo nice! Hope we can do that again!

Today was a very early morning--it still is actually. I'm at camp for high school students right now and these Nica high schoolers are nothing like American high schoolers when it comes to morning routines... They are not the kind to roll out of bed and into the classroom. These kids get up WAY too early to take a cold shower before the sun rises in the chilly morning. So the rule for camp mornings is supposed to be lights out until at the earliest 5:30am (for 6:45am breakfast). Well, I woke up at 4am this morning, not because I was feeling cheery, but because the girls were already awake, chatting, and running to the showers. 4AM!!!!???? I had to get up to tell them to be quiet, turn their lights off, and to not take showers in the boys bathroom.

The way the rooms & bathrooms are set up is kind of weird, but basically there are 2 dorm style rooms for the boys (17 & 18 boys in each room) and they have bathrooms next door to their rooms, but only toilets & sinks. Their showers are actually over near one set of the girls' rooms, which happens to be right next to my room so I got a lot of noise this morning. The girls in my section (2 rows) have to walk over to the other girls section (which really isn't too far) to use the girls' bathroom with showers. Well, some girls thought since they were up at 4am it would be ok to take a shower in there since there were no boys, but ya never know who might be roaming around that early so I had to kick them out.

Well, I'm definitely NOT a morning person, as most of you know. I set my alarm for 6am since breakfast starts at 6:45am and we just have to walk about 50ft to the cafeteria. However, I've been up since 4am and haven't been able to get back to sleep through the giggles, morning chatting, and shower line yelling. The boys are lined up outside the showers and the counselors are reminding them to take quick showers. I can't even stand the thought of taking a cold shower this early since I'm almost shivering just sitting outside with my computer in jeans & a sweater. Yikes!

Well, let's hope I can get to bed much earlier tonight (and maybe take a nap during midday break??) because I'm going to be tired today! I considered just locking the doors to the bathrooms and not letting anyone in until 5:30 or even 6am, but there probably would have been a lot of whining. ;) I really wish I had brought my earplugs to camp...

So I made it through the first camp with English teachers and I actually had a great time. I was soooooo exhausted throughout the camp and ready to crash at the end, but I made it through. I got to know a lot of awesome English teachers from all over Nicaragua which was super cool. I was very impressed by their English levels too. They were a fun a group to work with.

My reading group for the weekBeing silly!Camp Staff (4 girls on bottom are all PCVs)Being silly againWe had a great time at camp and now I'm at my second camp for high school students that are in the ACCESS program--the English program I've been teaching culture with in Boaco, but this is for students all over Nicaragua. The students arrive tomorrow so we're just here preparing everything. I did get a little rest this weekend, but Frank was visiting so we were talking a lot and I had to help him with a craft project he needed to make for a dinner in his town. It actually turned out really nice. It's a picture frame made from cardboard and rolled up magazine pages.

Well, here's to another week of camp! Please Lord, give me strength :)

Although January is my "vacation", I'm going to be pretty busy this month. I leave tomorrow morning for a camp for English teachers. I'll be teaching a class on gender roles & relationships and a workshop on materials design. I'm excited for the camp, but I know it's going to be exhausting. After that camp, I'll have a day and a half off, then it's off to another camp, but for high school students. I'll be teaching a variety of topics such as grammar, oral presentation, writing, etc. all in English. I'm looking forward to that camp too, but I'm not as prepared for it because the camp details were sent out a little late and most of us were out of the country during December. Now I have this other camp, so I'm gonna try to "prep" during the evenings if possible. We'll see. After the second camp, I'll have a day off and then I'm off to meetings with Peace Corps. That won't actually be too exhausting because I won't be up front blabbing, but I'll be listening and participating in small group things. I'm really excited for that because we get to see all the TEFL PCVs (the newer group & everybody in my group) and we'll be bringing one of our counterpart teachers. Should be a good time :)

I have a little anxiety thinking about the next few weeks to come, but I know I will enjoy myself and look back and be glad that I volunteered and participated in the camps. Please pray for me for strength, a positive attitude, confidence, and good health--camps are physically exhausting too!

One nice thing about not being in Nicaragua over Christmas is coming back to Christmas mail and gifts to exchange :) I picked up several Christmas cards from friends and family which will now decorate my wall (thank you to all those who sent cards & pics!!) & Jasser and I exchanged gifts after I got back into Boaco. I gave him a red scarf (per his request) and he gave me a mug with a picture of him & me on it that says "Brothers Forever"--translation from Spanish because their word for siblings is "hermanos" which can be used for boys & girls. Anyway, I found it endearing. It was a really sweet gift--something I can hold on to for a long time :)

We later visited my aunt here and I took a little treat to her house: chocolate covered cherries from the States--yum! I also greeted several "family" here and they were all glad to see me, and me of them. It's nice to be back. I really gotta soak up these last 10 1/2 months before I have to leave this beautiful place. Time is going by fast!

It was so nice being back in the US and getting to meet Frank's extended family and see some new places, but all things must end some time...

The two week trip was so great and didn't go by too fast, but now I'm already back in Nicaragua and it's 2012--crazy!! We started out our trip with family things including finding a Christmas tree, decorating, and dinners. It was really special for me to be included in all of this. Then, Frank &I ventured out to DC & Arlington on our own so he could show me around. We even had a little date night & went out to dinner & a movie--so fun :) And, for the last part of our trip, Frank's parents took Frank & me with them to Colonial Williamsburg to celebrate New Years (we met up with Frank's aunt & uncle there too). That was a really neat trip full of fun, new experiences and delicious food. Our last night in Maryland was spent with family--we sat around the lit Christmas tree and chatted, ate a delicious meal together, played cribbage, and ate ice cream while watching one of Frank's (and his dad's) favorite shows, "Jeeves and Wooster".

Although I didn't want it to end, I knew we would have to come back sometime. I do love Nicaragua and I'm excited for this new year, but it's going to be hard to get back into the swing of things after that wonderful time of home comfort... such as hot showers & being able to flush the toilet paper haha After 2 weeks of pure English, I was still able to whip back into Spanish, so that's good. Upon arriving in Nicaragua though, Frank & I weren't quite ready to hop on a bus back to our towns so we got a taxi to ease us into Nica culture haha We had a lot of bags too so it just made more sense ;)

I'll be posting pictures on my Facebook, because there are way too many to put on here & the internet is a lot slower here than it was in the US when I posted my last blog. But, here are a couple to get you through.

Christmas Church tour in downtown Frederick, Maryland:

Frank's youngest brother's (Robert) birthday:

Arlington & DC:

Tomb of the Unknowns

U.S. CapitolNational Christmas TreeColonial Williamsburg, Virginia:

Governor's PalaceWriting with a quill penCarriage ride around town :)Troublemakers...

Although I'm not "home" home, I've been welcomed into Frank's home by all of his family. I'm sure glad I got to see my family before coming here otherwise I would be really missing them, but thankfully, I got to spend some time with them and now I'm with more family. I do really miss being "home" for Christmas, but I'm having a wonderful time in Maryland, despite the cold.

So far there's been shopping, family dinners, cookie making, a hockey game, Christmas presents, tree cutting and decorating, and lots of good conversation. I've met some very kind people here and I've felt so welcome :) Makes me feel really special. Frank's family has included me in their traditions from searching for the perfect tree and decorating it, to having a filled stocking left at the foot of my bed and unloading the stockings together in the morning. I thought that having Frank in my life was enough of a blessing, but having his family in my life is a blessing indeed. They have been so kind to me and I am enjoying all the family time here. They also were so sweet and gave me some gifts to include me in their gift exchange--it was such a nice thing to include me and I felt like part of the family.

Something special: Frank and I exchanged gifts on Christmas Eve. I gave him a small collection of books from one of my favorite authors (Donald Miller) with a bookmark that I made with a poem I wrote. Frank is an avid reader so I wanted him to have something to think of me when he reads. I also got him a water bottle he really wanted & was pretty excited about--it's the little things in life ;) Now onto his gifts for me. The first one: We were out touring downtown Frederick, Maryland the other day and found a neat pottery shop and we saw some cool ornaments. I pointed out one that I really liked and he had his dad secretly pick it up later to surprise me. So sweet. And, the grand finale... he gave me an Irish Claddagh ring because of his Irish heritage and the traditions he loves. Also, his father gave one to his mother when they were dating. It was very special and brought me to tears of course. The tradition of the ring is that you wear it on your right hand ring finger facing out if you are unattached/looking for love; on your right hand ring finger facing in if you are "romantically involved" or your heart is spoken for; on the left hand ring finger facing out if you're engaged; and on the left hand ring finger facing in if you're married. Mine is on my right hand ring finger facing in--he stole my heart ;) It's a neat tradition and I'm really happy he gave it to me. Also, his father has an Irish Claddagh ring as his wedding ring.

Ornament made from a pressed flower

My beautiful ring

Pics from the trip so far:Frank was so excited to drive!

Frank in his high school alumni hockey game

Looking for the perfect tree

Found it!

Got a pretty wreath tooNeat house where the tree farm owners liveSetting up the treeMmmm Starbucks!So excited to get my peppermint hot chocolate

Church in downtown Frederick

Beautiful town homes

Thought this house looked really prettyThe tree set up in the houseFrank and his brothers (Tom--right & Robert--middle)The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...With my man in front of the beautiful tree--our first Christmas :)I was proud of this bow I made :)Gift wrapping station in my roomFrank's mom made gingerbread menLisa teaching me how to make Christmas mice--their Christmas cookie tradition

End resultFlaming Figgy PuddingChristmas EveChristmas morningPresents galoreChristmas morning--looking pretty good for little sleepFrank's family got me a large 4 person cribbage board

Now that I've had a couple of days to get settled back in at home, I can now write about the fun family visit I had. My parents, brother, and grandpa all visited me for a little over a week and it was quite an adventure. I set up a shuttle service which kept things running smoothly and we even visited a new place for me :)

After riding a bus to the airport to meet up with my family, we headed out to Granada for our first leg of the trip. The next day we rode an express bus over to Masaya to check out the markets. We met up with Frank there & I got to formally introduce him to my family, since before they only knew him through Skype. We hung out in Masaya and shopped a little, then took a chicken bus back to Granada. Frnak & I love spending time in Granada because we get to feel like Americans a little & eat yummy food. We also got to visit my host sister in Granada and little Dyland. My mom loves Dyland and we spent a lot of time playing with him and then went out to lunch.

Eating some banana bread in the airport--my dad made it just for me :)Having snacks and smoothies in the central park in Masaya--can you believe my grandpa climbed up these chairs??We took a horse carriage to visit my sisSuch a big boy! Only 9 months oldLoves!Such a precious little one--with teeth now hahaTy playing with DylandBubbles!Lunch in GranadaSo sweet :)Granada was a nice beginning to the trip, but after 3 nights there, we headed south to San Juan del Sur. Frank & I had never been there, but were excited to check it out. Here, we rented a house from a Canadian. He has a nice house right in front of the bay with a pool too! It was nice to spread out in the large home and check out the beach. San Juan is a cute little fishing town that is surprisingly very clean. I didn't really see any trash on the ground, which is shocking for Nicaragua. It was a nice change. There are quite a few hostels and tons of backpackers and surfers wandering the streets. It's a safe little place and we really enjoyed ourselves. We visited a nearby beach, Playa Maderas, and tried out surfing. Even got a little tan ;)

On the way to San Juan del SurOmetepe Island from the shore--the island is made from 2 volcanoesView from the house in San Juan del SurLunch on the beach

Purisima celebrations

Running around with a bull on fire

Getting ready to do the zipline

View from the first zipline

So beautiful out there

Ty

Frank

DadGramps

Frank trying to catch some wavesJasser visited and came out boogie boarding with usYep, I stood up on a surfboard :)Ty heading out

After San Juan, it was on to Barcelo at Montelimar Beach. When my parents visited in April, we went to Barcelo, which is an all-inclusive resort on the Pacific coast. My parents really liked it then so we decided to go back on this trip. The food is awesome (or maybe that's just because I've been eating simple foods...) and there are all-you-can drink cocktails all day. It was quite a vacation :) The beach is private and beautiful and the pool is big, cool, and relaxing.

Beach!Pool

Mom's pretty tan in the backI didn't take as many pictures because I was too busy enjoying myself, but my parents got a lot more I think. After we finished up at Barcelo, we went to Managua to stay the night since my parents had an early flight. The trip went by way too fast, but I was happy and thankful for the visit :)

I've been super busy lately, as you can tell by my lack of blogging... Hazzell's graduation and Dyland's baptism were two weekends ago and then my family (parents, bro, & grandpa) came to visit me for a little over a week and now I'm in Boaco trying to settle down before the next trip.

Hazzell's graduation was cute, but I had to leave a little early with Jasser to get together all the last minute baptism details. We had to go to a little class to learn what it means to be godparents. I was a little nervous that they would ask me something in Spanish and I wouldn't understand, with it being about religion and such, but I understood the majority and it went well.

The baptism itself went well--it was a little hot in the church but Dyland did really well and didn't really fuss until the priest was wiping oil on his forehead and pouring water on his head. He ended up falling asleep after during the mass photo session. He was exhausted, but precious as ever.

The after party was a party to the extreme. Jasser went all out to make this the biggest bash in Boaco. We had a whole team of people working to put things together right up until start time. It turned out beautiful and everything went as planned. There was a good turnout and everybody thoroughly enjoyed themselves. It was quite an affair for a little one's baptism but these Nicas know how to party. Frank was there with me and we danced the night away.

Details from my family's visit will come tomorrow as it's pretty late right now and I have a class tomorrow morning. Until then...

I just got back from visiting Frank for a couple days and it sure cooled down a bit up north. When I got there it felt nice and breezy, but still sunny. That evening it cooled down a bit and then in the morning I was freezing! I immediately found Frank's sweater and a pair of tall socks. Unfortunately, I only had shorts & a tank top for pajamas, as it's usually pretty hot, maybe warm in the evenings, but never cold!

It warmed up a bit and we went to Matagalpa for the day to pick up some Christmas gifts & spend the day together to celebrate 8 months :) We bought a small bottle of wine for the occasion which turned into quite an ordeal later when trying to open it without a corkscrew. We tried many things and then finally just pushed the cork all the way into the bottle. It worked. I'm not much of a wine-o, so all wine pretty much tastes the same to me...but it was nice and I felt a little more grown up haha We made a pasta dinner and Frank brought out the candles and we out on the patio. It was a nice night and we enjoyed each other's company.

It wasn't as cold this morning and I'm back in Boaco and it's warm here. I know for sure that it's hot in Managua and Granada, so visitors don't worry!

I know I already posted about it being the last day in November, but before November's gone, I just wanted to share a mini-essay one of my students wrote on "What I am thankful for". I was very impressed! Remember, she is an English learner in high school (in the Embassy scholarship program). She is one of the best students (very studious & sweet).

"I'm thankful for a lot of things that I've received in my life. First, and the most important for me, I'm grateful for my parents, because I have them alive and they work very hard to give to my brother and me all the things that we need (food, clothes, shoes, studies, etc.) and give us protection and love. They are comprehensive and patient with me.

I'm thankful for my health, because I don't have any illness. I'm grateful because I can see, I can use my hands, I can use my legs, I can talk, I can hear and I can breathe. I'm thankful that I live.

I'm grateful for my friends, because they've been with me in all the moments of my life (good and bad) and give me help and affection.

I'm thankful for the bad moments, because they let me to know my mistakes and help me to change my life and give me new lessons to learn.

I'm grateful for the good moments, because they give me happiness and I can share them with my family and my friends. I'm thankful for all."

A tear almost came to my eye when I read this. Not only was her English awesome here, it really showed her maturity. I was very proud to read this :) She's getting a special treat! haha

I've been thinking of an idea for awhile about setting up a scholarship program or something between the class here and Gonzaga maybe. Gonzaga has a good English language center where they have various leveled classes for English learners from all over the world. It would be really cool if I could set up something with them to sponsor a student from here for a semester or two to learn English at Gonzaga. I would love to be able to provide that opportunity for a student or two, especially when I see students like this one who really care about their studies and genuinely want to learn :)

It's the last day of November, can you believe it?! Monday was my "official" last day of classes at the instituto even though they've all been done for so long. Today I had my American culture class and reviewed Thanksgiving traditions and talked about Christmas and a little about New Years. I gave them an assignment to work in small groups and practice a Christmas song--we talked about caroling, etc. They love the song stuff. One of the teachers filling in right now loves the show Glee and he had them do a song from that. They loved it and were showing me videos today and singing the song over and over. It was pretty cute. They're a good group of kids.

I can't believe that December starts tomorrow. It feels like second semester was dragging on and on, but now it's time for vacation! Wahoo :) My family is coming to visit less than a week away and I'm really looking forward to that. Until next year November...bring on December!

I've already started packing my things for my family's visit because it's now just ONE week away!!! I'm super excited to have them visit :) I haven't seen my bro & gramps in over a year, and I know my parents are definitely missing hugging & kissing me haha I'm just really excited to have them all here to spend some quality time and show them parts of Nicaragua, AND....to meet Frank! I've already met Frank's family, but my family hasn't met him yet, just on Skype. It should be fun :)

I've also been getting stuff ready for the baptism coming up. They moved the date again, but it's official now because they've reserved, paid, and purchased. It is next Sunday. Oh man! Jasser and I have been working hard making and arranging things so hopefully everything pays off.

I've been putting together lists and piles of things for my trip to the States too. I have to prepare early for this to make sure I have enough warm clothes for the cold weather. I'm a little nervous about freezing/turning into an icicle up there because I'm so used to the 85+ degree weather. I'm glad my parents are bringing me a winter jacket! I am looking forward to dressing in long sleeves, long socks, slippers, big coats, and using a blanket. I miss the cold weather. I may regret that statement come December in Maryland... Oh well. I'm also really looking forward to spending time with Frank's family and meeting his friends. He's been telling me about everywhere he wants to take me and things he wants to show me there. I can't wait, but I'm sure the trip will fly by so fast. I want to cherish every moment, and savor every bite of delicious American food that I can get my grubby little hands on ;) Oh, I'm so excited!

Planning is my thang, so this getting ready biz ain't got nothing on me. I'm just looking forward to enjoying each of these experiences after all the planning is done.

This year I got to participate in a real Thanksgiving celebration. It was so nice to be able to share a good meal with others and not miss out on this tradition. Frank and I signed up for the annual Embassy Thanksgiving program sort of thing where US Embassy families host PCVs for a turkey dinner. Well, we were actually assigned to a family in Granada. We both love Granada so we said, why not? The family was actually 2 ex-PCV sisters who served in Africa awhile back, but live in Granada now. They co-own a hotel and each have their own homes there. We ended up staying at one of the sister’s homes right around the corner from the hotel and it was amazing! It had a gorgeous pool and courtyard area and the rooms were nice—air conditioning, private bathrooms, hot water in the shower—could we ask for more?! Well, they gave us an awesome dinner too! We stuffed our plates and then faces with turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, yummy veggies and salad, cranberry sauce, and then some pecan & pumpkin pie. Oh, and we got some bar drinks too. They treated us well. After chatting it up with other gringos living in Granada, we went night swimming in our private pool for those 2 days. Yes, no one else was staying there, except one of the sisters who lived there. It was awesome—such a great trip for us.

The next morning we had breakfast in the hotel, which was the best gallo pinto I’ve had so far. Then, Frank took off to Managua for a meeting and I stuck around and visited my host sister and baby Dyland :) He is getting so big now! We took lots of pictures and had a good time sharing stories and just hanging out. My sis made lunch for me and we gave Dyland a bath and watched a movie. Love hanging out with her! In the early afternoon, I decided it was time for me to head back to Boaco so I caught a bus out of there and returned from my little vacation. It was nice to get out of that heat though. Granada (like Managua and Masaya) is HOT! My family will like this when they come to visit though…

Here are some pics from my adventures last week:

Our reserved table

So pretty

Delicious dinner

Such a big boy!

I forgot to mention pretty much the most exciting part of our trip to Granada...the FOOD! It was so nice to indulge in some delicious food and cut loose for the weekend. I had some amazing sandwiches, one filled with melted cheese, bacon, turkey, eggs, etc; a quesadilla, bagel with cream cheese, pita & hummus. Also some great drinks: smoothies, mojitos, and frozen strawberry lemonade. I ate some yummy desserts too. This past weekend really was all about the food. That's where all my money went, but I didn't mind one bit. It was totally worth it. However now I'm trying to fill that empty void...my stomach stretched to allow all that delicious food, and now I'm back to smaller portions and lots of gallo pinto. Can't wait til my family comes & then the trip to the States. I know I'm gonna put on a little weight, but I gotta build up a little layer of fat for the cold weather in Maryland haha That will be my excuse ;)

This past weekend a group of us PCVs got together in Granada to celebrate our 1 year of Peace Corps service. It feels like quite an accomplishment being here a whole year and not crying to go home haha just kidding! Our experiences differ greatly, but we all share a common piece and we can all relate to each other through food, host families, and the occasional sicknesses. We have already been in Nicaragua a year (Sept. 1, 2011) but this week marks our 1 year in PC service (after swearing-in last November) and 1 year in our service sites. I can't believe I've already lived in Boaco for a year, but at the same time, when I reflect on the relationships I have with my host family here and the things we've experienced together, it feels like forever. It's incredible how quickly you can get to know someone here and how close you become.

Frank and I have been dating for almost 8 months. It feels like so much longer--Nicaragua is strange like that. Here we grow close to each other, and the other PCVs, because we understand each other and what we are going through when a lot of even our closet friends and family members back home can't relate. We lean on each other and laugh about awkward situations we've endured and uncomfortable bathroom stories that never would have slipped out from my lips had I not crossed over into this over-sharing life called Peace Corps. But it's good and I wouldn't change it. It's awesome to have a support system here, and someone close who I can share my worries with and receive encouragement.

Now that we're in the middle, it sorta feels weird. We have passed the hump and now are headed downhill, but there seems to be so much left to be accomplished. The next few months are gonna be busy and I'm looking forward to family time, but I'm also hoping that this next school year starts off right and that I can take advantage of a fresh new year. I have big hopes!

I also want to travel more and explore the countries around Nicaragua. I have a short time frame in between finishing PC and returning back to Gonzaga, but hopefully I can squeeze some good memories in there :)

I'll see y'all this time next year in Oregon--can't wait!

Frank and me at the top of a cathedral bell tower in Granada. The main cathedral in the central park and Lake Nicaragua are behind us.

Just a little shout out to Skype today because it has connected me to my family and friends in so many ways. I'm really grateful for it because I've been able to talk to and see people from home, which has been a huge blessing! Today I did a little Skype session with some people from Gonzaga about teaching overseas. It was fun to see a familiar face and share some things with new people--some interested in doing the Teaching English program at Gonzaga and Peace Corps. Exciting :) Monday I got to chat with one of my good friends from Spokane--love that girl! I got to meet her new baby too--so sweet. Family and friends are very important to me and being able to stay in touch with everyone while I'm so far away is so great. Definitely feel blessed to have this opportunity.

Yesterday I was telling Jasser about all the cool things that my parents sent me in a package, including some decoration items for the baptism, and he was so excited that he wanted to come to Boaco to see everything (he's in Managua during the week at a university). Well, today he decided to come to Boaco (2 hour bus ride) to see everything and had some other excuse of needing to find a paper for the university. He cracks me up. He also brought more ribbon for one of the projects we had been working on so after I showed him all the fun things, we finished up yet another project. Then, I told him we should make a list of all the things we have for the baptism and how we will set things up for the reception. This is a long list, but thankfully most of it's already done. Yay! He just has to rent the tables, chairs, and linens, but that's when we're closer to the actual date & pick up the day of. There are still more things to be done though. Gosh, it feels like we've been planning a wedding or something. I'm sure it will be pretty big and fancy. Anyway, it was a nice little surprise visit because I was a little bored today and feeling under the weather. Always nice to have some company.

Today I walked home from the instituto twice. Well, because I went there in the morning for a class, walked home, and then went back in the afternoon for another class and walked home. Sometimes I take a taxi, but I usually try to at least walk on my way back home to get some exercise and not pay for 4 taxi trips in one day. The walk is not terrible: a solid 20 minutes at a good pace, but it's up and down so steep, long hills. On hot & sunny days in the afternoon though, it can be unbearable, so sometimes I take a taxi home so I don't pass out on the side of the road. However, today I walked home before the sun was too strong and there were several students and a teacher leaving at the same time so I walked with them. It was very enjoyable. The students (all girls) were telling jokes and asking lots of questions and the teacher (female) asked me about my work and other things. I'd never met her before so that was nice getting to know her. I usually walk home by myself, so this was fun.

On my way home in the afternoon, it was cloudy and a little cooler since it rained around noon today. There were some boys from some of my classes walking home after helping my cp clean a classroom. They chatted with me the whole way back. That was fun too--sweet kids. I'm really glad I didn't take the easy way out and avoid these conversations. My foot started hurting a little along the way because of those darn cobblestones and inadequate footwear (my fault--darn cheap sandals!), but it was worth it.

I kinda like not having the option to drive everywhere, forcing exercise. It feels good though and many people tell me they are amazed that I walk around so much. They walk, but I guess they don't go to that many places in one day (or some will take a taxi). Taxis are tempting, but being on a budget is also a good way to keep me from being lazy. I hate spending money on a taxi when I know I can do the walk. I try to save taxis for really rainy days, when I have lots of groceries, or when I need to get somewhere quickly. Also, stopping by the ice cream shop after a long walk doesn't sound as bad as stopping by the ice cream shop after a taxi ride ;)

P.S. Taxi rides are 10 cords (approximately 45 cents) anywhere in town--bigger towns charge more (15 cords and up depending on how far you need to go).

Our stand-fast was lifted so we are officially "ok" to travel about. Yay! Weekend plans still on & I'm super excited to see Frank(!) and my friends. Wahoo! Can't wait.... AND, I set up a Skype date with my good friend from Spokane (met at Gonzaga). She just had a baby last month & I'm super excited to "see" them both :) This week's gonna be good!

So, there was no march today. It was quiet & felt like any other day in Boaco. Glad that nothing crazy happened. Our stand-fast is supposed to end tomorrow so I'm excited about that, along with all the other PCVs cooped up in their sites. Can't wait to see my man! And of course my friends :) Hope the next few days go by quickly...

So far so good here in Boaco. There's a rumor that some kind of march against the election results will take place tomorrow, but not sure exactly. I'm here in Boaco with Jasser & Hazzell and I think everything will be fine. Just missing my Frank... it's been too long. Darn Peace Corps keeping us away from each other! They're so heartless haha Just kidding. They're making sure we're safe and checking up on us. I really feel good about the situation and they are honestly doing a good job of monitoring everything; I just wish I wasn't stuck here for so long, getting cabin fever. Looking forward to our 1 year in service celebration coming up and the new trainees have their swearing-in ceremony this next Friday. Crazy!!

Muchas felicidades a mi mama. Hoy es su cumple :) Estoy triste porque no puedo estar con ella, pero estoy agradecida por Skype.

Well I just felt like writing in Spanish... but here is a little something to my momma in English:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my mom!! I don't get to be with her today and this is actually the third year I've missed her birthday...last year in PC and the year before that I was up at Gonzaga. Sorry Mom!! Next year I won't be home on your birth date, but I will be there shortly after to celebrate your birthday :) Thankful for Skype!

They officially announced that Daniel Ortega will continue to be the president. I didn't witness anything violent in my town, but there were some reports of violence on the news. I keep calling Frank to check in on him because his town is known for being a little wild, but he's safe over there. It definitely feels safer living with host families since we have that extra protection instead of living on our own. Although, I haven't felt threatened when walking outside either.

Jasser and I have been doing more crafts for the baptism to stay busy--today I taught him how to make paper snowflakes which he thought were awesome and was in awe at how easy they are to make. It was pretty funny, but then I guess they wouldn't teach them how to make snowflakes here in elementary school... Jasser wants to add a little Christmas to the baptism since it will be in December. We made some pretty neat ones and traced them onto foam paper with glitter and cut them out with an x-acto knife. I'll have to take some pictures tomorrow.

Here is a link to an article about the elections: Nicaragua Elections 2011

Not all the votes have been counted, but it's been unofficially decided that Daniel Ortega will continue to be President of Nicaragua. I know there are a lot of sad Nicas out there who were hoping for change and freedom, but I guess that will have to wait... I'm not sure if there will be any backlash, but so far today feels like a normal day--just the regular amount of people in the streets, sun is shining, no marches. It's weird. I thought there would be more celebration, but I guess the parade at midnight was all they needed.

Will keep you all updated this week if anything happens. Know that I'm safe and with my host family.

Everything today is fairly tranquilo (quiet, peaceful; pronounced: tran-key-low). Today is election day and most Nicas have been talking of peace and nonviolence which is good. Boaco is the quietest I've ever (not) heard it and things seem eerily ok. Another PCV put it this way "besides no drunks being in the streets, it feels like a normal day". That is because they do not sell any alcohol 72 hours before and after election day, nation-wide. Smart decision. If only they limited alcohol sales more often, oh wait, isn't that prohibition? Well, it actually might help here since alcoholism is a very big problem. But, since there won't be any alcohol flowing through the streets for the next couple days, hopefully things won't get too crazy. I did already here of some burned ballots up north though. Unfortunate, but it happened.

Let's keep it tranquilo Nicaragua.

Election day is tomorrow and things are getting a little heated. People are fighting for a fair election and the two main parties have large followings. I'm feeling a little nervous as to what might happen tomorrow. I just hope that people will be wise in their decisions and keep peace as much as possible. I've already heard that people were in the streets with bats, machetes, and rocks, but I hope that they will not use these weapons against people. I do not feel unsafe here in my house, but I fear for the Nicaraguan people fighting each other. Tomorrow is sure to make history. Those of you who are not familiar with the politics (or recent politics involving the current president) in Nicaragua, I would encourage you to read articles on the internet and be thankful that you are in a country with more freedom.

I am now back in Boaco after a nice little trip to Managua. It was nice this time because I got to see one of my friends that lives pretty far from me and I got TWO hot showers :) Yes! Also, I got some beautiful flowers:

It was a scorcher today so I was a little worried about my poor flowers on the bus ride home but I think they're recuperating. I got them into a nice fresh vase of water (after cutting the stems) and they look better already.

As I was unpacking and while my laundry was washing, I finished up some crafts that I've been working on for the baptism. I made Jasser help me with some the other day, but I just had a few left to do today. I've been saving my toilet paper tubes hoping to find some craft (more than just a kids thing to be used once) to recycle them. Well, with the baptism coming up, I decided to make napkin rings! I cut them in fourths, used double-sided tape, and attached shiny white ribbon. They look great & Jasser loved them because they look so classy :) I made 83 of them. Yes, he invited that many people. It's going to be a grand affair.

Now it's back to school tomorrow for one day and then the elections are this Sunday. It will be interesting to see what happens. I'll be keeping safe inside my house.

I came to Managua yesterday to plan a charla and meet with an English teacher--all on "Halloween". It really didn't feel like Halloween, but I enjoyed the day nonetheless.

I got into Managua, took care of some things in the office, got lunch with some PCVs at the nearby mall & met up with Jasser :) Then, I met with an English teacher to plan some lessons for the Embassy camp in January--I invited her to the PC office and she was really happy to meet with me--it was pretty cute & she even gave me a little treat bag and a mug. So sweet! I then took a nap before my other meeting and headed back over to the office and planned with the tech trainer for English (Donald). I got out of there after most of the PCVs had already eaten, but my friend Julie went with me to a nearby place that has a good happy hour and we got some fun drinks & had dinner.

Today was my charla day. I slept in a little which was wonderful & I was surprised by a nice HOT shower! Yay :) I had forgotten what hot even felt like. I shall never take a hot shower for granted again! We headed out for our charla and drove through Carazo which is a very green department & full of hydrangeas which are so lovely. I convinced Donald to pull over on the side of the road where a family was selling flowers & I bought a bouquet of hydrangeas--this made my day! I was so happy. I just love fresh flowers & I never get them here. I can't wait to put them in a vase in my room. Anyway... we got to the school & met up with the trainees and chatted for awhile. They're a nice group so I enjoy talking with them. They just got back from their site visit so they had plenty of stories to share--so fun! We finally got around to our charla which was "teaching grammar" something I used to dread, but have grown to love. They also had a little practice teaching experience after where a team of two planned & did a mini grammar lesson for us and we gave them feedback. I like this experience because we all get to share ideas and ways to improve our teaching.

We wrapped things up around 5pm, but because of local political rallies, there were no buses running & we had to take some trainees home. With many roads closed off, we had to drive around and take the long way to get them home & then to get back to Managua. I settled with McDonald's for dinner, but got a slightly healthier option (grilled chicken sandwich), but still chose fries. They're just so salty and delicious haha

I finally got back to the hotel & settled down to enjoy my meal. P.S. the guys at the hotel helped me get an ice container to hold my flowers & they even cut the stems for me so it'd fit better. Nice!

I tested the shower tonight, but no hot water so hopefully I'll have better luck in the morning :) I'm exhausted so it's time for bed! Back to Boaco tomorrow.

As it gets closer to the elections, things are getting a little more heated. There are more rallies and such going on all around Nicaragua, closing streets, etc. Thankfully, it hasn't been too crazy in Boaco.

Andrea and I had a workshop today in Boaco on pronunciation and it went pretty well, but then we found out that because of all the rallies in Managua today, the buses weren't really running because they were blocking off certain areas/streets in Managua. So, Andrea had to leave quickly after the taller and Jasser had barely made it home from Masaya and he said that people had been throwing rocks at some buses, including his. He showed me a picture of where a rock came through a window and ripped a bus seat. He said one almost hit him in the face. Yikes! I was a little nervous for Andrea to go home on the bus, but she took a taxi most of the way. Frank is stuck in Managua (in a safe hotel) with another PCV that was unable to leave Managua today because of the rallies. I'm supposed to go to Managua Monday to give a charla Tuesday. It should be fine by then though because the week before elections is called the week of silence, where they are not allowed to hold rallies, etc. So, that will be nice.

On other news, I went thrifting again today, but with Jasser & Liz. Most of the stores were closed but we each bought one thing. I got a cute colorful tank top--hope you are jealous that I'm wearing tank tops in October! Actually, I'd rather be wearing a sweatshirt & lounge pants right now (of course in a much cooler climate). I'm super excited for December because of that. I know it will be sooooo cold, especially for me coming from Nicaragua, but it will be a nice change in climate (and clothing). Can't wait to snuggle up in front of the fireplace with a blanket :)

We still don't know what days we will have off of school because the elections will control that. I'm thinking though that there won't be any school this next week, and probably no school the week after elections. Then, school is supposed to be over November 24. We pretty much only have 2 weeks of school left for this semester, but I think it's gonna be kinda crazy. Vamos a ver! (We'll see!)

Sorry blog followers! I haven't really thought about my blog lately. My mother must not have sent me any emails or text reminders. Hmm...gonna have to get after her for that ;)

Anyway, not much has been going on since I last posted. One thing cool though: I visited Frank last weekend and the little girl that lives at his house (she's 1 1/2) can now say MY name :) Yay! She says "ank" for Frank, but she actually got Megan! Wow! I was so happy. It's precious hearing her say my name. One day when I was there she called out "Megan" and I turned around and she waved and said "hola". It touched my heart. I can't even think how wonderful it is for your own child to say your name, or mommy/daddy. Something to look forward to in the way beyond future haha But, I'll settle for this now.

Let's see...this week is my last week of community classes because I have to give some charlas in November which conflict with class days and the elections biz kinda messes up everything. Then, December my folks are coming down here again, but this time with my gramps & my bro. Super exciting!!! Can't wait for that :) THEN, I'll be going to the States with Frank to be with his family which wraps up December and begins January. Wow, it's almost 2012...yikes! Ok, I won't get too ahead of myself.

Today I taught two AWESOME lessons if I say so myself haha My counterpart complimented my lessons and told me that he wishes his class was like mine. Well, it is OUR class & I tried to encourage him to teach as much as possible, but sometimes it's good for me to model a lesson and for him to repeat in another class. Anyway, I felt super because I finally got to teach with him after so long (this isn't my MIA counterpart...) instead of "observing" (sitting & staring at the wall) the other classes. The kids were totally into the lessons and he even commented on that as well. Yay! Hopefully he'll listen to more of my ideas. I feel like I've said this before. Wow, it has been a roller coaster of a school year!

It's close to the end of the school year and I'm actually very thankful for that because I'm really looking forward to a "do-over" haha I feel like I came in a little unprepared and now that I kinda know how the school year goes (tons of vacay & fiesta fiesta), I'll have a better idea of how planning can go. Also, I know my counterparts much better and can use that to my advantage. It's great that we are much more comfortable with each other and we can communicate better as well. Hope for a good school year (and overall good year) in 2012!

I think that good energy from the lessons kept with me throughout the day. I felt like doing a lot of things. I washed my mosquito net (in the washing machine--it said I could), went to the bank to pick up my rent & internet money for next month, stopped by the thrift store and bought a couple of cool things for super cheap, bought some nails & fixed my mosquito net (I've always hated how low it was & I finally did something about it) & also fixed my "clothesline"--an old shoe lace strung between two nails where I put my "hang-up" items (nice shirts, pants, skirts), I put up some maps I wanted to put up for awhile, re-arranged my pictures & wall decor, and I'm trying to get myself to clean my bathroom, but I don't wanna do too much in one day ;) We'll see!

I gotta get back to my book. I've recently found an online organization tool which totally rocks my socks, but it's super duper addicting and I could seriously spend all hours of the day online, but that's just bad for my back... Darn wooden chair. I just saw my book on my desk & I've made a lot or progress and now I wanna get back into it because I really do LOVE it :) It's "Pride & Prejudice" by the way. So romantic--LOVE LOVE LOVE! Ok, I'm gonna get off this computer now & get back to my three-dimensional world. Peace!

This week has been rather slow and the rain has helped to keep me indoors. I went to the instituto Monday morning, but they were turning in grades so my counterpart had left because they weren't teaching after recess. What? Yeah. I called him and he said he forgot to tell me. Oops. So, I went back home and worked on some things.

I went back in the afternoon, after texting my other cp to see if my lady cp was there and not home sick again. He told me she was there and asked for me to look for him when I got there. Oh goody! Maybe, he wants to plan with me (finally). Nope. He asked me to help him with this crossword puzzle in English and then said goodbye. Oh, and that maybe we can plan sometime. Hmm, ok.

I found my lady cp and the students were finally getting to do their presentations on asking for/giving prices and I was actually excited to see the effort they put into them. It was fun and they did a pretty good job answering questions. I was impressed by some of their drawings too.

Later that day I was supposed to meet with my cp (that ditched me in the morning) so I passed by his house and he told me that he had to Managua Tuesday so we could just meet Tuesday evening when he got back. Ok. On my way home, I stopped by the ministry of education (MINED) building to let the superintendent (delegada) know we were going to give a workshop for the teachers this weekend. She wasn't there so I left a note, and then I saw some pretty cool Nicaragua maps just lying there so I asked about those and walked out with a free map. Score!

So, back home and not much to do. Good thing Frank told me about this cool show called "Raising Hope". We watched a ton of episodes this past weekend and I checked out a couple more in my free time :) Also, nobody showed up to my adults English class that night (most likely because of the rain we've been having and their forgetfulness...), so I had plenty of time to myself and I made a delicious soup. Yep, it's soup weather right now! I started with a base of cream of mushroom and then added fresh veggies: carrots, string beans, onion, green bell pepper, garlic, potatoes, and a free pieces of tomato at the end so they wouldn't get mushy. It was delicious!! I shared some with my sick little sister and she enjoyed it too.

Tuesday was pretty slow too, but I actually got a lot done. I just took my time and went at my own pace. I didn't have classes since my cp was in Managua. So, I worked on making materials for classes coming up and planned some things for the Embassy camp. I had my kids class in the afternoon and I was happy for that because I got out into the fresh air and the rain had stopped briefly.

I came back home and got to work on things. I sort of avoided lesson stuff and went into organizing all of the supplies I have and sorted them out to distribute to some teachers. It feels so good having things organized and in their place :)

I didn't really have anything to plan for the next day since I wasn't going to have any classes, so I did my own thing. I picked up a book that Frank brought me, Pride and Prejudice. I absolutely love the movie, but I hadn't read the book yet. He saw it in the the PCV library in the office so he picked it up for me--how sweet :) I started that and as expected, I love it. Great to have a good book to read, especially in this weather!

Well, today I got to sleep in again. It feels awesome! I'm not going to get used to it, but I might as well enjoy it while I can, right? Yes!

I read a little and tried to fix the slowness on my computer. I think it worked because it's agreeing with me more which I like. My host mom told me that my cp (host uncle) was heading to Managua today, so that meant I was not going to be able to plan with him this afternoon. Hmm, my schedule is freeing up by the second. Then, I got a text from one of my sitemates saying that I had a package! Wahoo! I got a package from one of my mom's BFFs, Laurie. She's so sweet. Always sending me fun stuff. Thanks :)

So, I guess I should plan my lessons for the Embassy camp and make some phone calls since I really have no excuse to avoid them. Ha. I have been enjoying the slowness though. Hmmm, I'll consider doing something productive as long as I can stay in my pajama pants ;)

When I finally got back from all the craziness that is Managua, the rain had settled down a little and I got to help out my small business sitemate with her entrepreneurship competition. I went Friday morning & I immediately felt bad for her as the people changed the location on her the night before and then said there weren't going to be any tables, chairs, sound equipment, etc. Well, good thing she's a tough cookie and fought for those chairs! Everything ended up coming together just fine, but it made for a stressful morning & a little late start (but what really starts on time here?!). Anyway, it was a fun experience for me to see this competition and I was the official photographer/videographer. That's always a fun thing to do--you get to walk in front of people and stand up while others are sitting and mosey around to check things out and not look awkward because you are taking the pictures, and not just a random person taking pictures, THE official pictures. I tried not to let it go to my head. haha ;)

Judges' table

Some student tablesI was impressed by some of the projects. The SB PCVs have said before that it is a little difficult to get the students to think outside of the box and create different products than ones that already exist, but I don't know if I could have done that in high school. Good for them :) It was cool and I look forward to seeing more in the future. *Oh wait, I guess I did FBLA in high school, but I didn't create any new products or anything...just did a presentation on some fundraisers.

One of the presentationsOne of the groups was selling this mango cinnamon marmalade. It was delicious! I bought a container of it and even though the stuff is delicious, I'm a little more excited about reusing the awesome Tupperware dish with a screw-top lid that it came in. Is that weird?

Another group made this chocolate milk sort of stuff and stole the Chick-fil-A logo which I didn't notice at first, but another PCV from the south pointed out to me. Funny. They didn't win, so I don't think they'll have any worries with copyrights...

This one group made a facial mask/soap from different tree barks which was interesting. I almost took some home to try, but then thought it probably wasn't best to "try something out" on my face. Glad I thought twice about that!

Some group made some natural medicine mixture with garlic that was supposed to cure the cold, but smelt very potent and probably wouldn't taste very good straight up. It smelled great for cooking, but not sure about taking shots of it.

I'm interested to find out what other groups have come up with from different departments around the country. The group who won this competition made some drink mix that is similar to popular drinks here (in texture) and they'll be going to Matagalpa soon for the regionals.

Well, I gotta get back to making materials for classes this week. I got to plan with one of my counterparts (host uncle), but my other one is still MIA. Or I should say my other two. The lady is sick and wasn't there all last week, which is a bummer. Hopefully she'll be there tomorrow, but the other guy hasn't really let me know when he wants me back. I'm thinking it just won't happen, but I've already come to terms with that. No worrying about that now.

Peace!

Tuesday I had a couple meetings to go to in Managua so I got up at 4:30am, left house a little after 5am and took the 5:30am bus. Because of a huge rain storm and horrible traffic in Managua, my bus was 30 minutes late getting in. I had called a taxi to pick me up at 7:30am, but then called again and said I’d be about 20 minutes late. So, I was at the bus station at 8am waiting and the taxi didn’t come until 8:30am. So much for getting in early for my 9am meeting! I had to drop off some things at the PC office before going to the US Embassy for a meeting for a camp I’ll be working at in January. We also had to pick up two other PCVs going to the same meeting because they were stranded at other bus terminals. The taxi overcharged us because of all the rain and traffic issues (apparently they were overcharging a lot of people), but we finally got the Embassy which was an interesting experience in itself.

The first step: Show your ID cards and be escorted inside the first building. Then, metal detector #1 and confiscation of all items. They went through all of our things—worse than the airport—and took any food items, water bottle, chapstick, any other liquids, cell phones, cameras, etc. Then we walked through the metal detector. They told us they were not allowed to guard any money for us so we had to remove that from our bags and carry it on us. I made a joke about that, saying that “Oh, you’re just allowed to keep all of our valuable items that you could sell on the street.” They were young and had a good sense of humor and knew I was making a joke so I didn’t get detained or anything :) It was sad having to turn off my phone and give it up…

Next step: escort across the courtyard and into the main building. We went through another metal detector there. Is this really necessary? Not quite sure about that. Then we had to sign in and write why we were there and who we were meeting. We sat in the lobby with the guard until our escort came. She had to wave at the guard to electronically open the doors as they were all locked. High security here. She took us to our meeting room and we finally got down to business around 9:40am.

The meeting went really well and I’m really looking forward to working with the other PCVs and Nicaraguan teachers. The camp is going to be in January for Nicaragua English teachers to give them an opportunity to participate in a 5 day camp to practice English, learn new methods and cultural activities, and receive support in their job. I’m excited, but I have a lot of work to do starting now…gotta get planning so I can submit my first lesson plan next week.

We got to have lunch at the Embassy which was fun and the food was yummy and decently priced. I chatted with the other people in the meeting and met the new English Language Fellow from the US. She’s super nice and she offered me a ride back to the PC office after the meeting with her and her taxi guy. Sweet!

Back in the office, I got together with Melissa, another TEFL PCV, and we cleaned up our power point presentation and ran through our activities. We got things ready and did a dry run with our tech trainer. Since we were in the office late, we chatted a little with our country director who offered us a ride to our hotel or wherever we were going. We invited her to come to dinner with us and she accepted. She picked us up at our hotel a little later and took us to a nearby restaurant and we had a nice, relaxing dinner. Then, she surprised us by paying for it all :) Even after being rain soaked and running around crazy, it wasn’t a bad day after all.

This morning I slept in a little later then the day before, but only until 7:30am. I got some breakfast, got ready, and headed over to the office to get things ready for our charla. We printed things out and looked over everything to make sure it looked good and we were ready. We had planned to do a fun “trainee Bingo” game throughout our presentation so we picked up some candy on the way.

It started getting stormy again on the way to Diriamba, Carazo, but we were comfortable in the PC vehicle and not crammed inside a damp bus. It was a pretty chilly day and since I’m not used to the cooler weather, I didn’t have a sweater, just my polo, capris, and sandals. Oh well.

Kelly did a charla first with our tech trainer, and then Melissa and I were up after the break. We did a charla on giving teacher workshops. It was new information for the trainees so they found it interesting and we had random slides with pictures of them pop up to fill in their Bingo cards (to which they eventually won chocolates for Bingos) so that kept their interest as well :)

They are a fun group of trainees and I had fun working with them and hope to work more with them in the future (well, I at least have one more charla with them). I’m sad that no new PCVs are coming to Boaco, but I’ll see them around.

We finally got back to Managua around 7pm and Melissa and I ordered some pizza to be delivered to our hotel. We all hung out and everybody was pretty much exhausted so it’s nice not to have anything tomorrow. I’ll be heading back to Boaco and I have a class in the afternoon, but the students will be doing presentations. Hope it goes well :)

It’s been nice staying in the hotel, but unfortunately, there hasn’t been any hot water, which is the main draw to staying in hotels in Managua. Bummer! Guess I’ll have to wait until next time.

It's too late to write a blog about the events that have passed today so I will save that for tomorrow, but for your reading pleasure until then, here is a link to the blog post that our recent visitor, Claire, wrote about her visit. It was really nice :)

Claire's Blog

I'm in Dario this weekend again because I have a meeting up in Matagalpa tomorrow so might as well stop by Frank's on the way there, right? :)

Also, something interesting this weekend, a friend from back home told me her friend was traveling through Nicaragua and asked for any suggestions of places to visit. I gave her my email address and we wrote back and forth and she actually came to Dario today and hung out with us. Frank's friend even took us up into the church bell tower for an amazing view of Dario and the surrounding hills. Tomorrow, we're all going up to Matagalpa together. She's really nice and it's been fun so far. It's neat to have someone visit from the States and share our experiences here with them.

I'm excited to go up to Matagalpa tomorrow because it's a cool place to hang out with friends and there are some good restaurants and coffee shops. I'll be planning a charla, but we're meeting at this nice coffee shop that has wi-fi and AC! Yay :) Can't wait!

Orange chicken dish that Frank & I made for out 6 month "anniversary" dinner :)

Candlelit--so romantic hehe

Very happy to be togetherWedding from last weekend

Wedding cakes

Fresh squeezed orange juice Mmmm :)

Church bell tower in Dario

Climbing up the old wooden stairs...

Huge open windows and quite a view

Between the fumigations here (truck driving around spraying chemicals in the air toward your home that contain diesel) and people dumping chemicals in the sewers (which come directly into your house), I CAN'T BREATHE! Ugh!! I woke up this morning and opened my bathroom door which faces the back patio and I was overwhelmed by a cloud of fumes. It was weird how it was only in my bathroom and hadn't seeped into my bedroom yet, but I guess my bathroom has a window to the back patio (and a curtain that apparently trapped the smell inside) and it has a large drain directly connected to the sewer so the fumes were able to come in, but where could they go? I opened up the door and turned the fan on higher to dilute the smell, but I could not go back to bed. Double ugh!! When my host mom came out of the bathroom out in the back patio, I asked her what the smell was and she asked "what smell?" You know, the overwhelming gasoline smell??? Oh, she says. They did fumigate in the area... and, apparently the car shop nearby has been pouring car oils into the sewer and I guess this is pretty common. Hmmm. That's not safe considering the poor sewer system here and that all the tubes go straight up into everybody's homes, forcing chemicals on them. I guess it can't be extremely toxic since nobody has dropped dead in the streets during the fogging, but it makes it difficult to breathe. I remember walking through the outdoor market as a fogging was taking place and the man fogging was wearing a big gas mask but spraying directly into the little shops. People were coughing a lot. Does this also contaminate the food they are selling? All the exposed grains, beans, etc.

Glad I'm leaving for the weekend...